Watch the World Die
by GylzGirl
Summary: Giles' estranged father comes to Sunnydale with news of rogue Watchers and their evil plot.
1. Chapter One

Watch the World Die:  
Chapter One  
by GylzGirl  
  
  
Disc: Joss, aah, savior of the universe. Fox.  
Rating: PG (violence, a little language)  
Timeline: Third season, between Revelations and Lover's Walk. That's right, I defy you Joss! Wait {tremble} I didn't mean it oh Joss. Please don't smite me!  
Author's Notes: Thanks to Kazza and Meawan for their patience. Title comes from an Everclear lyric that I couldn't get out of my head but it's not a songfic.  
Written: Fall 1998  
  
  
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Rupert Giles stood by the long oak library table, removing his glasses and securing his head gear. He proudly watched his two Slayers sparring with the full-staffs, and waited for a natural lull in their rhythm. "Good! Buffy!" He plunged in between them. Faith backed up as he and Buffy went at it. Buffy was having a slightly harder time with the bulkier staff then she had when Giles had introduced the quarterstaff to her, but she still managed to just barely parry each of his blows. "Good job! Faith!"  
  
Buffy moved back to catch her breath as the black-haired Slayer moved in on the Watcher. Where Buffy's style was to take things easy at first to learn her attacker's style, then use that information to defeat them, Faith was more instinctual, more visceral. She came on aggressively and kept it up. Quick forceful blows drove Giles farther back across the library until he was able to angle his staff just right and sweep in under her jabbing assault. With a wave of his staff, he managed to knock her off of her feet.  
  
"Buffy!" The blonde was on him in a flash, not about to let her Watcher get cocky. She imitated his own move and within seconds, he landed beside Faith on the floor. He sat up grumbling. Faith smiled at him sympathetically and offered him her water bottle.  
  
"You always were better at projectile weapons Rupert," a commanding voice with a English accent spoke. Three sets of eyes drifted to the doorway to appraise the tall burly stranger that stood there. He wore a finely tailored suit of tweed. He was a bit heavy set with a handsome, if slightly pudgy, face, half-hidden by the salt-and-pepper beard that matched his hair.  
  
Giles rose slowly and smoothed his clothes down. "Hello Father," he said rather quietly. The two girls both adjusted their gaze to fall on the younger Giles, their jaws slightly agape.  
  
"Well Lad, how are you?"  
  
"Fine," Rupert said with a tight smile.  
  
The elder man's smile was beginning to fade, picking up the slightest twinge of a scowl. "Aren't you even going to invite me in Boy? It's not like I'm some damned vampire."  
  
Giles' eyes remained downcast. "Yes of course. Sorry. Do come in."  
  
The man's grin returned with almost theatrical brightness. "Thank you. Well, these two beautiful ladies must be Buffy and Faith." He sat down at the table. "It's an honor to meet such legends."  
  
Faith beamed under the compliment. Buffy smiled at that, but she was also watching her Watcher. He was not happy to see this man here. He had spoken of his Father to her, rarely and not with much fondness. Giles was being polite, and she decided she would follow his lead. However, she decided something else too, she didn't like this man.  
  
"Rupert, aren't you going to introduce us?"  
  
"Yes of course." He raised his eyes and looked at the girls. "Buffy, Faith this is Warrick Giles." Rupert lowered his gaze again. "My father."  
  
"Hey," Buffy said in a neutral, vaguely disinterested tone.  
  
Faith finally picked up on the uncomfortable vibes radiating from Buffy and Giles. She smiled, deciding to cheer them both up. "Hey there Papa G." She moved forward and shook his hand, Slayer-hard. Warrick struggled not to wince. Buffy struggled not to laugh. Rupert couldn't repress a smile.  
  
Warrick Giles cast a disapproving glance at his son. "Yes, well, my son and I have a lot to catch up on girls. Perhaps you could give us some time to get reacquainted?"  
  
"Sure, come on B, we got patrol."  
  
Buffy looked to Giles, reluctant to leave her Watcher to his father's company. He nodded her on, fondly. "Right. We'll be back for check-in in an hour." Her last sentence emphasized for the older man's benefit. Just so he knew she'd be back soon enough to see if *her* Giles been upset. He'd had enough emotional trauma over the past year. She'd be damned if she'd let this man add to it.  
  
The Slayers disappeared through the swinging double doors. As the sound of their footsteps echoed further down the hall, the father turned to his son. "Two Slayers and you make them check in on the hour? Sounds a bit *overprotective* to me."  
  
Though he knew his father well enough to know he'd never admit it, the man was gloating, relishing throwing the same word the 21 year old Rupert had used to dismiss his father when he left university, back in his face. "I'm sure it might to you, but then you don't live on a Hellmouth. You haven't had to deal with a recent surge in demonic activity that warrants extra precautions. You don't have two flesh and blood young girls counting on you to care whether or not they live or die." Giles calmed himself down a bit, but continued. "They're all just numbers to you, aren't they? Another one dies, you just tick them off, move on to the next. Even Rebecca was no different to you was she?" Warrick glared at his son. "Not really. I don't think Mr. Zabuto would agree with that philosophy Father. Nor do I."  
  
"Zabuto?" He scoffed. "He locked himself away in a monastery in Tibet after Kendra died...under your care." His father was never one to resist a painful dig. "And what will you do when your Slayers go the way Rebecca and Kendra did? Will you weep and wail? Lose control as you did when that gypsy you'd taken up with was killed?"  
  
"Very possibly. That's sort of the peril of being human Father. Sometimes you have to risk looking foolish, acting foolish, in order to remain feeling."  
  
His Father stood, meeting his son eye-to-eye with their equal height. "Sometimes I think you're too soft to be entrusted with any Slayer, let alone two Rupert."  
  
Rupert stared his father back down, a cold hatred smoldering in his eyes. "Sometimes I wonder why you advocate the Slaying of vampires at all, sharing as many emotional traits with them as you do."  
  
The older man looked away, his back now to his son. "You really think I feel nothing, don't you?"  
  
"You proved that to me when I was ten, and you've only kept on proving it ever since. Now why did you come here? What is it you want of me?"  
  
"Perhaps I just missed you. It has been three years after all."  
  
Giles barked a laugh. "I'll ask you once more. What is it you want from me?"  
  
Warrick sighed, then turned back to his son. "We're facing a crisis of epic proportions. If we don't stop it, not only will your two precious Slayers fall, but there will be none to replace them, ever."  
  
Giles read the blunt honesty in his father's weary features and sank into the chair. "Tell me." 


	2. Chapter Two

Watch the World Die:  
Chapter Two  
by GylzGirl  
  
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Warrick sat back down next to his son. "That Post woman was, it seems, not alone. We've got quite an evil little underground breeding."  
  
"Imagine that. Watchers are such an understanding lot. Hard to believe anyone being mistreated or embittered."  
  
"That's enough of that," Warrick snapped. Rupert's glare bored through his father. "You always were an insufferable smart-ass."  
  
"The one trait of yours I managed to pick up," the younger Giles retorted.  
  
"Look if you don't want to listen, those two girls you profess to care about are going to die." Rupert fell quiet. "Good. As I was saying, Post wanted the Glove of Milligan to empower her little group, to lead them in their glorious cause."  
  
"Which is?"  
  
"They are all misfits of some sort. Some left us of their own will, crushed when they were passed over for Slayer duty. Some, like Post, were booted for meddling in the dark arts. According to our reports, they have formed an alliance with several powerful and ancient master vampires."  
  
"An alliance?"  
  
"In exchange for lost dark magicks, they eliminate the present Slayers and prevent future ones. This gives the vampires their payment and concurrently gives them what they really want, to eliminate the Watchers."  
  
"I'm confused. They will try for Faith and Buffy. We know that now and we can prepare for it. How will they stop the future ones?"  
  
"As you know, we have meticulous records of the already existing Slayers-in-waiting and books of astrological charts for the ones yet to be born. Very accurate, although your girl Buffy was one of the few to slip through."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"That's who they're going after. They've already killed two. Melissa Creek of Sussex and Alice Bain of Baltimore." Warrick produced two photos from inside his jacket.  
  
Rupert took them and swallowed a lump in his throat. Melissa, a little blonde, looked to be about 3, Alice a brunette, 2, and they reminded him of how Buffy and Faith might have looked at that age. "My God," Rupert breathed, "they're just babies."  
  
"Babies who would have grown to be fine warriors, and were killed before they could make their names."  
  
"For God's sake Father, children are dead. Could you look past the war for one second and see that much?"  
  
Warrick spoke sadly. "I have Rupert. What do you think your mother would have done if we'd lost you at that age? What would I have done?"  
  
Rupert snorted. "Mother would have been a wreck. You would simply have insisted you try for another child to ensure the continuation of the line." He looked up and faintly registered genuine hurt behind his Father's eyes. "I'm sorry. That was incredibly cruel and uncalled for."  
  
"The point is, many more *babies* are going to die if we don't stop these fanatics."  
  
"All right. What's the plan?"  
  
"We need to lure the whole group here and take them out."  
  
"What? Kill them? They are still human beings Father."  
  
"No, not kill them. We need them incapacitated. They will then be taken back and tried before the Council Tribunal. They will decide their ultimate fates."  
  
"Whole group is how many?"  
  
"Twenty, well nineteen now that your Slayers eliminated that Post woman."  
  
"So how do we get them here?"  
  
"Five are already on their way to town, coming after your girls. The rest will follow them soon."  
  
"Why's that?"  
  
"We've rounded up as many of the future Slayers as we could and brought them here. The group will see this as a chance to deliver a huge blow against us."  
  
"Putting all those children in danger."  
  
"They are already in danger Rupert."  
  
"But they are still bait."  
  
"Can't be helped."  
  
Rupert sighed. "I realize. But it still doesn't make it all right. They are going to lose their childhood and innocence to this awful, dark, unending battle soon enough. It just saddens me that we're taking even more time away from them." If he'd been looking for it, or willing to see, Rupert would have seen something resembling pride in his father's eyes at that moment.   
  
Warrick stood and handed Giles a slip of paper. "My hotel, and the number. I'll leave you to explain the situation to your girls. I think they'd rather hear it from you. That Buffy was staring daggers my way."  
  
"Yes, one trait she seems to have picked up from me." They shared a small smile at that.   
  
"I'll see you tomorrow my Boy. Uh, get some sleep won't you? You'll need it."  
  
"Good-night." As his father exited, Giles studied the photographs, burning the faces into his memory. A few minutes later, he heard his Slayers enter the room. "Ah, Buffy, Faith, patrol is suspended for the rest of the night. Sit down, I'll go put on some tea."  
  
"Gee tea, it really must be the end of the world," Buffy quipped. Giles turned to her with an expression so dire, she felt a shiver pass through her system. She looked again and could swear she saw the start of tears glittering in his eyes. "Giles?" He moved into his office without another word and started to brew a pot. Faith and Buffy sat down quietly. 


	3. Chapter Three

Watch the World Die:  
Chapter Three  
by GylzGirl  
  
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Giles drained the last drops of the comforting warm liquid from his cup and looked over the rim at Faith and Buffy. Faith was staring down at her hands resting in her lap, stunned. Buffy was gazing ahead at him, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. Giles sat the cup on the saucer with a shaky hand that made the China clink. The small noise seemed to bring the girls back to the present, for the moment.   
  
Buffy quickly rubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand. "They're not going to get those kids," she said quietly.  
  
"Damn straight," Faith confirmed.  
  
"Agreed. But first things first. We have the five members coming ahead of the other group. Coming for the two of you. We have to take care of ourselves first before we can take care of the others."  
  
"So what's the plan?" Buffy stood and began to pace.  
  
"Take them down alive. My Father and his associates will take care of keeping them locked up and sedated until we can send the whole sorry lot back for their trial."  
  
"When do they show? I feel like doing some damage," Faith rose and crossed her arms over her chest.  
  
"They arrive tomorrow. That's why my Father came here tonight. As far as we know, they know nothing about him being here. They don't know we're expecting them. We can use that." Giles noticed the disappointed scowl on the brunette's face. "Faith, i-if you feel the need to burn off some excess energy, you have my permission to go take a patrol."  
  
"Cool!" She grabbed her jacket from the chair's back. "Later!" She strode off for the door.  
  
"Call in a half-hour for check-in."  
  
She stopped at the door. "What happened to an hour?"  
  
"Hour for both of you, half-hour for one." His fists unconsciously perched on his hips. "You can't help stop rogue Watchers tomorrow if a vampire kills you tonight."  
  
Faith smiled. "Night Mom."  
  
She was out the door before he could reprimand her. Buffy was looking up at him, almost smiling, almost. "Giles?" she said quietly.  
  
"Yes?" He pulled his glasses from his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. "And I'll warn you, if you call me Mother, you will seriously jeopardize your position of the good one."  
  
A full smile now, though it didn't last long. "No, it's not that. I-I want to meet them."  
  
"Them?"  
  
"The children. The future Slayers. I want to see them."  
  
He lightly touched his hand to her shoulder. "Buffy, I'm not sure that is such a good idea."  
  
"Please?"  
  
"I-It's highly irregular."  
  
"Please?" She pouted up at him.  
  
It was getting to him. He had wards for demons from before the dawn of time but had yet to find a barrier for the slight, almost imperceptible, curl of this girl's bottom lip. "Why?"  
  
She shrugged slightly. "To remember...what it was like when I was them. To tell them, they don't have to just be the Slayer. That it's okay to be a person too. To care and have friends and feelings of their own."  
  
"Ah."  
  
"So can I?"  
  
He smiled, replacing his glasses on his nose. "My Father would never approve."  
  
She smiled back. "So that's a yes?"  
  
"It is indeed."   
  
"You're a rebel." They exchanged smiles. Buffy sat up on the table, her legs dangling. "So, how do we get ready for them tomorrow?"  
  
Giles sat on the table top next to her. "First, you are calling in sick."  
  
"I am?"  
  
"Yes. They will almost assuredly act during the day. A Slayer's senses are more heightened at night. The school is too dangerous. Too many people coming and going, too scheduled, too many opportunities for them to grab you or..."  
  
"Or something else? Like a drive-by shooting? Blamed on gang members high on PCP or something?"  
  
"E-exactly."  
  
"Well if it means avoiding being shot, I definitely feel a cold coming on."  
  
"Good. Your Mother should make the call and then I suggest she head to Los Angeles for a few days."  
  
"They'd come for her?"  
  
"Oh yes. They mean to press any advantage and you can't look after yourself and Faith and the children and your mother."  
  
"She won't like it."  
  
"I do realize. I'll go with you to talk to her." Giles looked around the room. "I'll take a personal day tomorrow. That way I can lock up the library. One less thing to guard."  
  
"And Faith?"  
  
"Yes. We'll go talk to your Mother when Faith gets back tonight. Then we'll send her on her way, just to be safe. I suggest you, Faith and I set up shop in my apartment."  
  
"What about the others?"  
  
"We'd better call them and have them stay home sick as well. Keep them inside until this first group is settled. We may need their help with the rest."  
  
******  
  
  
Joyce Summers descended the stairs of her home, carrying a suitcase. "I've called the school and told their machine that Buffy is ill and won't be in tomorrow, and that I will be out of town for a few days. I also left the number of my hotel saying they are to call there if they need to verify, Buffy needs her rest and I don't want her disturbed."  
  
"That was good thinking Mom."  
  
"Faith, Buffy, if you two will go upstairs, I need to talk to Mr. Giles alone now."   
  
"Uh Mom." When they first told Joyce that assassins were coming for her little girl and she was expected to leave town and let the big strong Watcher handle it, she took it badly. She tried logic at first. When that didn't work, she ranted. Language came out of her mouth that had made Faith blush. Buffy stepped in when she thought her Mother was about to strike Giles in her anger. After much more persuasion, from all three of them, Joyce had reluctantly acquiesced.  
  
"Buffy, you will let me talk to Rupert or I'm staying and that's final. I promise I won't hit him."  
  
Buffy looked to her Watcher. He gave her a small nod. The Slayers ascended the stairs. "Now Joyce..."  
  
"Shut-up."  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Shut-up. I have things I need to say and I'm going to say them. You owe me at least that much. She's picked you over me in this situation, just as she always does."  
  
"That's not exactly true." Gone was the awkwardness they'd experienced since their cursed-chocolate-enduced tryst. It was a small comfort for Rupert as she seemed to have channeled any leftover emotions from that experience into stronger bitterness toward him. Just what he needed to make his job a little easier.  
  
"Whatever. There is one thing I ask you to do for me."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"You promise me these people aren't going to get Buffy. Or Faith."  
  
"Joyce..."  
  
"You promise me! Promise me I'm going to have a daughter to come home to."  
  
"I-I," from the look on her face he didn't trust her to keep her word not to punch him. She didn't want excuses or explanations, just this assurance. The only thing that would let her protect herself and let the rest of them get on with things. The only thing that was going to move her out that door and on her way out of town. "I promise." He knew he would either keep that promise or die trying.   
  
Joyce silently picked up her suitcase and hurried out the door before her tears began to fall. 


	4. Chapter Four

Watch the World Die:  
Chapter Four  
by GylzGirl  
  
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The girls entered his apartment ahead of him. Giles locked the door and tiredly made his way to his couch. Buffy sat in the chair and watched him with concern. Faith was sitting Indian-style on his floor.   
  
Buffy spoke up. "Giles you look wiped out. We can figure this all tomorrow. You should sleep." She nudged Faith with her foot.  
  
"Yeah, she's right Giles. You should hit the sack."  
  
"No!" He looked up a bit sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap like that." He removed his glasses, sat them on the table next to him, and ran his hand back through his hair. "We all need our sleep but we need a plan."  
  
Faith stood up and moved behind the Watcher. "Plan fast, or we'll have to tuck you in." Her hands moved to his neck and began to massage.  
  
"W-what are you doing?"  
  
"Relax Sexy," she grinned over his shoulder at Buffy. "My old Watcher used to get viscous tension headaches and this was the only thing that got rid of them. You look like you've got one coming on. Now, plan."  
  
"Uh...right um, first thing tomorrow, we should set-up Buffy's house in preparation." Giles slowly relaxed into Faith's touch. "They will no doubt contact the school and find out Buffy is home ill...with her Mother absent."  
  
"You just expect the school to dole out that information?"  
  
Giles tried a stern glance Buffy's direction but it dissolved into a smile, his eyes closing in pleasure as Faith smoothed out another knot in the base of his skull. "These people were trained to be Watchers Buffy. If they have no other way, we can plan on them knowing everything as soon as the attendance office enters it in the computer. Not all of them are...God that feels good...uh um, n-n-not all of them are as leery of computers as I. Some would actually make Willow look technophobic."  
  
"What about me?" Faith asked as her hands slipped down onto his shoulders.  
  
"Well, annoyed as it makes me when you disappear for days on end, you have established a pattern of it, which in this case works in our favor. They will think nothing of finding you missing from your room. Which means you get to help us at Buffy's. They will definitely send more than one for a Slayer. Once we have them, we put out word on where you can be found and pick off the remainders."  
  
"Cool." Faith's thumbs made short quick stroking motions, almost like cat paws, where his neck met his hairline. A small soft sigh escaped his lips then turned into a yawn.  
  
"We should g-get some rest. 5 am comes rather early when you are waking up to it instead of staying up to it. You two can go on upstairs." He stood.   
  
Faith grinned widely and moved in front of him. "Ooh why Giles, you studly you. Both of us at once? What a tiger!" She ran her hands down the lapels of his jacket.  
  
"Faith." He put his hand on hers to move them off. "I was offering the two of you my bed. I'll take the sofa."  
  
"Like a gentleman," Buffy interjected. She liked Giles being flirted with. It was good for his self-consciousness about his looks. Plus it made him all shy grins and blushy, which was kinda...cute, in a Giles way. But sometimes Faith just went too far...and Buffy wasn't entirely sure Faith was just playing.  
  
"No sweat G, the Slayers will rough it on the floor. You take the bed."   
  
Giles looked to Buffy, who nodded and smiled. "Very well. G-Good-night then."  
  
"What no kiss?"   
  
Giles finally succeeded in prying her fingers from his coat-front. "Good-night Faith." He made his way up the stairs and ignored her as she wolf-whistled at his exit.  
  
"You take the couch B. I like the floor better anyway." Buffy turned off the light and made herself comfortable on the sofa. Faith pulled down a throw pillow from Giles' chair and stretched out.   
  
"Faith?"  
  
"Yeah B?"  
  
"Why do you do that?"  
  
The brunette chuckled. "Do what?"  
  
"Flirt with Giles that way," she whispered.  
  
"Cause he's cute. He should be flirted with more often."  
  
"You think he's cute?"  
  
"Yeah. And he's, you know, nice. Meet some of the jerks I have and you appreciate that more."  
  
"But, cute in a distinguished older gentleman way right?" There was no answer. "I mean, you haven't thought about...you know."  
  
Another laugh. "Screwing him?"  
  
"Faith!" Buffy quickly covered her mouth with a pillow, not having meant to be that loud. "Well...y-yes."  
  
"Like you haven't."  
  
"I haven't."  
  
"Right."  
  
"I. Haven't."  
  
"Jealous?"  
  
Buffy was starting to get a little mad. "He'd never sleep with you."  
  
"I know. That's why he's so fun to play with. But that's not what you asked me. You asked if I had *thought* about it. I mean that face...English accent..."  
  
"Faith."  
  
"Watcher's stamina."  
  
"Faith!"  
  
"That adorable butt." Faith was hit square in the face by a fast moving throw pillow. The two girls erupted in giggles and then frantic shushing so as not to keep Giles awake.   
  
  
******  
  
  
Giles lay wide awake on his bed, the murmurs from the girls below registering as no more than a low background noise. He rested his arm over his eyes, his thoughts racing. Parents always talked about whether their child was 8 or 80, how they would always be their little baby. No one ever mentioned that magical parent power of turning their grown offspring back into a child with a word, a glance, or in his father's case, by his mere presence. Here he was supposed to be guiding the two most important girls in the world through the transition from reckless youth to some kind of responsible adulthood, and all his father had to do was enter the room and he was 20 years old again. All the resentment, the bitterness, still there. Like a shark under the water, peel back the tweed surface and you still found the Ripper.  
  
Giles tried to think of a time in his life when he hadn't yet disappointed his father. Maybe as a baby in his arms? Giles laughed. No, he'd probably cried inappropriately and angered him then as well. Most parents considered their babies perfect, but he had a hard time believing his father had *ever* seen him that way.  
  
Giles bet the parents of the future Slayers had thought their babies were perfect. Now of course they knew the fate that awaited their children. Those the Council hadn't just seized from their parents' custody during this crisis. The utter horror either way. Giles sighed and rolled over, torturing his pillow. The last thought he had as he drifted to sleep, Jenny Calendar would have had beautiful babies. His beautiful babies. 


	5. Chapter Five

Watch the World Die:  
Chapter Five  
by GylzGirl  
  
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The threesome awoke at the crack of dawn. They armed themselves at Giles' apartment and then headed to Buffy's, setting up the house with the efficiency of a military operation. By 9am, they were completely ready. They took up their positions and proceeded to wait.  
  
They weren't waiting long. Around 9:30 Giles, his post being nearest to the basement door, heard the sound of one of the windows below being broken. He waved to Buffy at the top of the stairs to let her know it had begun. She in turn signaled Faith in the living room. Giles backed himself slowly into the corner and raised the tranquilizer gun. He wouldn't be able to use it unless it was only one of them. He couldn't risk prematurely warning the others and having them scatter. They had to take them out here, or the girls might be in real danger. He could hear footsteps coming up the basement steps. There was more than one. He leaned the tranq gun against the wall, picked up his baseball bat and crouched in the shadows of the early morning.  
  
Buffy edged herself back up the stairs to the second story and crept to her room. She flicked on her stereo, just loud enough to give the room that "occupied by a Slayer just waiting to die" sound, and then closed her door and retreated to her mother's room.  
  
Faith paced around the living room, punching her fist into the palm of her other hand. This whole stealth thing wasn't for her. She wanted action. She knew enough to let a couple of them get past her up the stairs, had to leave some fun for B too after all. The rest were hers, all hers.  
  
The door to the basement opened and the first to emerge was a tall blonde man. Giles recognized him instantly as Derrick Graham. Giles had no fondness for that man, and couldn't help but grin at the idea of Buffy and Faith ruining his bond-white smile. He stepped away, heading toward the living room. The next to appear was a woman, one unfamiliar to Giles. After her was a short, bulky man Giles seemed to recall was named Burke. Someone who had come into training as he was leaving, and was not well liked by those who had been there at the time. He shut the door behind him and Giles exhaled in relief. Three bad guys against three good guys, two of which were Slayers, he liked those odds. That only left two more to sweep up at Faith's later.  
  
Derrick motioned for the others to wait at the base of the stairs. He could hear music coming from the Slayer's room. He reached into his jacket and unholstered a large hand gun with a silencer attached. He crept the rest of the way up and walked with a smile towards his target's door.  
  
Buffy watched under the door for the shadow to pass and then silently eased her mother's door open. She followed right behind him. When he grabbed her doorknob, she tapped him on the shoulder. As he turned, she saw the gun and kicked out at the hand which held it. His arm was propelled up, the gun firing once before landing with a thud farther down the hallway. He backhanded her and made a move to retrieve his firearm. "In case no one ever told you, when people slap me across the face? It REALLY pisses me off!" She jumped onto his back, riding his tall form to the ground, rolling him to face her when they landed. She hit him twice, knocking him into unconsciousness.  
  
The two left at the bottom of the stairs were startled by the sounds of struggle coming from the second story. As they moved up to assist their comrade, Faith rounded the corner with a huge grin. "So is this party just meant for Buffy? Or can anybody play?" They both stopped in their tracks and turned, stunned, staring at her. Burke was the first to regain his senses and he leapt the railing, much to Faith's glee, to advance on her. The woman followed behind Burke, unsheathing a dagger from her boot.  
  
Faith and Burke were going at it, barefisted. The woman was trying to keep the dagger from sight and angle herself behind Faith. Giles came around the corner to back her up just as Buffy came jogging down the stairs and jumped the banister. "Switch!" Buffy yelled to Faith as she took up position behind Burke and Faith whirled just in time to see the woman lunging at her with the knife. Giles backed off with a proud smile and leaned back against the railing. He never saw the basement door open.  
  
Burke was a pretty strong guy, Buffy soon found out, but he was slow. She kept her kicks and jabs coming at him as fast as she could manage and that started to wear him down. Faith was looking for any opening to smack that smile off of her attacker's face, but the woman used the knife like it was a natural extension of her arm and no opportunity came. "Screw this!" Faith reached forward, hissing as the blade slit her palm, fortunately not too deeply, and grabbed the wrist of the hand the woman held the dagger in. The woman panicked and began to knee Faith in the stomach, causing the brunette Slayer to go down, with the woman's wrist still firmly in her grip. She sat straddling Faith's stomach, punching her in the face. Faith brought both of her hands to the woman's wrist and began to squeeze, as hard as a Slayer could manage.  
  
Giles was moving to Faith's aid when he suddenly felt as though someone were standing behind him. Without turning, he inched the bat he held up higher in front of him and then sent the handle back under his arm, hard. He heard a loud grunt and then turned to see a redheaded man doubled over from where the bat had struck him squarely in the diaphragm and a taller, black-haired man behind him. Giles quickly swung the bat back around and at the tall man's face. The man moved back suddenly and the bat just barely struck the end of his chin, enough for a nasty scrape. The man spun around and pulled a gun.  
  
Buffy continued to work on Burke who had sunk to his knees, he finally let his hands drop from around his head enough that she could get in a good shot. With one last punch, she finally knocked him out cold. Faith, nose bleeding and lip starting to swell, kept crushing the woman's wrist until she heard the sound of bones cracking. The woman screamed and dropped the dagger. "Stubborn bitch!" Faith used her grip on the woman's wrist to move it wide and cold-cocked her in one blow. Buffy moved to Faith's side and helped her up.  
  
Giles brought the bat around for another swing, inadvertently striking the redhead square in the face as he did so and the man dropped to the floor unconscious. The tall man squeezed the trigger. The bullet hit Giles' bat and he dropped it. Before the tall man could fire again, Giles grabbed the man's wrist, brought his knee up and struck the man's arm against it as hard as he could. The gun tumbled to the floor and while Giles had him close enough, he headbutted the tall man for good measure.  
  
Buffy and Faith watched proudly from the living room as Giles hit the man twice more and he crumpled to the ground. He turned, saw the looks on his Slayer's faces, and couldn't help but to blush a little. "Is everyone all right?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm good," Buffy said.  
  
"Five by five," Faith answered.  
  
"Uh more like four by five for you Faith. That lip is swelling pretty badly. You better get an icepack on it. There's one in the fridge." Faith made her way to the kitchen as Buffy joined Giles at his side. "How are you?"  
  
"Just fine. Start tying them up if you would, I'll go make the call."  
  
  
  
******  
  
  
An hour later, a green van with the words Sunnydale Carpet Cleaners printed on the side pulled up to the Summer's house.  
  
Giles sat inside at the dining room table as his father entered the room. "Rupert."  
  
"Father."  
  
"How goes the war?"  
  
"See for yourself. We got lucky in them sending all of the first group here for Buffy."  
  
"Luck had less to do with it than your Slayer's reputation. She's already defeated death itself once. I don't think they wanted to take any chances."  
  
Giles smiled at Warrick. "How goes the clean up?"  
  
"Yes, our friends are as we speak being heavily sedated to await the trip home. We will keep them bound, drugged, and locked away until we can take the whole lot back for trial. The others are due to arrive tonight, to try to take the children. Will you and your girls be ready?" Rupert nodded tiredly. His father stood and patted him on the shoulder. "Good lad." Buffy entered the room, and smiled politely at the elder Giles. Warrick returned the smile and moved away from his son. Buffy took up position behind her Watcher and put her hand on his shoulder where his father's had been moments earlier. Warrick grinned at her possessiveness. "I'll see you both later tonight." Warrick followed out behind the *workmen* carrying their rolls of *carpet*.  
  
"You okay?" Buffy asked Giles, bringing her other hand to his opposite shoulder and beginning to imitate Faith's massaging actions the night before.  
  
"I'm okay. Where is Faith?"  
  
"She's upstairs napping on my bed. You should see her, all night she's completely wired, but in the daylight..."  
  
"That's normal Slayer reaction actually." He said around contented sighs.  
  
"So once again I am the freak?"  
  
"Not a freak. Special. I would hardly call the ability to be extra-alert no matter what time of day anything negative. Not all demons thrive in the darkness."  
  
She grinned. "So you're saying I'm like the SuperSlayer?"  
  
He smiled in return. "Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. In fact I suggest you start wearing a cape and your underwear on the outside." She laughed and he blushed brightly when he realized the meaning that could have been taken from what he just said.  
  
She slipped her hands from his shoulders and dropped into the seat next to him. "So what happens now?"  
  
"Well, we will need to call the others, make some kind of strategy for tonight, but..."  
  
"But?  
  
"Faith is asleep right now. And my Father will be a little while, securing the first group. So..."  
  
"So?"  
  
"Would you like to go and see the children now?"  
  
Buffy's eyes sparkled. "You mean it?"  
  
"We won't be able to stay long, but if you still want to, now is probably our best chance."  
  
"I want to. Just let me go and get my purse?"  
  
"What do you need your purse for?" He called after her as she was exiting the room.  
  
"You'll see!" She called back. 


	6. Chapter Six

Watch the World Die:  
Chapter Six  
by GylzGirl  
  
------------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
Rupert Giles pulled up in front of the remote house on the outskirts of Sunnydale that the Council was using to hide the future Slayers. Buffy was practically bouncing on the seat next to him. As soon as they stopped, she was out the door and waiting impatiently near his trunk. Smiling, Giles got out and joined her, unlocking the trunk for her.  
  
On their way over, Buffy had begged him to stop by the toy store. He did and found she had brought her savings to buy teddy bears for the children. When she was done picking out a unique bear for each of the girls and had brought them up to the register, he suggested she go clean out his trunk to make room for them. She laid her money on the counter, took his keys, and left. Giles put the money in his pocket and gave the cashier his credit card. In the car on the way to the safe house, he handed Buffy back her money and begged her to save it for driving lessons. She'd kissed him on the cheek and had been giddy and up ever since.  
  
Rupert went ahead up to the door and recognized the woman who answered it as Beth Williams, a gorgeous redhead from back home. She had been left to care for the children. A perfect choice, she had a heart of solid gold. He told her everything, that Buffy had wanted to see the girls, that he had agreed, the epic of the bears. He knew she would understand. She smiled and told him to get out there and help his Slayer bring those bears in. He kissed her on the cheek and did as he was ordered.  
  
When they got inside, there were eight pairs of wide, innocent eyes watching them. The oldest was an 11 year old blonde named Emmy, or more properly Emily Everette. She received a green bear with a straw hat. There were three cribs containing the three youngest. They each got soft bears that could be cuddled, or teethed on, depending on the mood they were in. When there was one bear left to be given out, Buffy noticed a little six year old curled up in the corner.   
  
Buffy approached her slowly. "Hi," she said softly, "my name is Buffy. I've brought a friend for you."  
  
Large, tearsoaked, brown eyes met her own. "Thank you," she said softly as Buffy handed her the bear. She pulled it to her chest and hugged it like her life depended on it.   
  
"What's the matter?"  
  
"I want Mommy. I wanna go home. I think I musta did something bad, cause I got took away." She balled her fists up against her eyes and wept.   
  
Buffy, near tears herself, pulled the girl onto her lap and rocked her there. "What's your name honey?"  
  
"Chrissy."  
  
"Chrissy, you didn't do anything wrong. There are some very mean people out there who wanted to hurt children. They were going to hurt you and make your parents very sad. So these people brought you here to be safe, to guard and protect you. And my friends and I are going to stop the bad people and make them go away. Then you can go home and be safe. And when you get bigger, you will be able to protect those smaller and weaker than you. And it will make you feel very proud."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Really." Buffy assured her as she wiped the tears from her cheeks.  
  
"What's my bear's name?"  
  
Buffy regarded the bear a minute. It had shaggy brown fur, a little bow tie, a coat, and glasses. "This is Giles the Bear."  
  
"Giles."  
  
"Yeah. Giles is a very smart, very brave bear. He will keep you from feeling lonely, and he will help you to not be afraid, and you can tell him anything, cause he will always listen to you."  
  
"Wow! Thank you Buffy." Chrissy kissed Buffy on the cheek and got up to show the other girls what a special bear Giles was.   
  
Rupert Giles walked over with a smile. "I couldn't tell her Giles. Once I got here, it just didn't seem right. Any warnings they have will just ruin more of their childhood and I couldn't do it."  
  
"I know." Buffy stood. She and Giles began to walk out the door. "So, Giles the bear really does all that does he?"  
  
She smiled and laced her arm through his. "Mine does." 


	7. Chapter Seven

Watch the World Die:  
Chapter Seven  
by GylzGirl  
  
------------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
Giles and Buffy picked up Xander and Willow on their way back to the Summers' house. They filled them in on the morning's events. When they arrived at Buffy's house, Faith was awake and awaiting a plan. They assembled in the living room. Giles stood, all expectant eyes upon him. "The remainder of the renegade Watcher faction may or may not know by now that Buffy and Faith defeated their colleagues. We don't know what kind of a schedule they were to keep with each other. They will undoubtedly move under cover of darkness, hoping to use the Hellmouth's demonic activity as a distraction for either Slayer should they have survived. It's nearing sundown now. My father will have moved the children to a hotel in town by now. The renegades won't want to draw attention to themselves so even if they discover the switch, they probably won't risk an attack in the city limits. The children should be safe, and Father will have lookouts posted just in case."  
  
"So what are the numbers and what's the plan?" Xander asked.  
  
"14 and capture and disable."  
  
"Right." Faith rose to her feet and stood at Giles' side. "So let's go kick some moldy, cowardly, flat, tweed-wearing butt!"  
  
"Faith," Giles began.  
  
"What? You're no coward. You're not moldy. And as for butts?" She drew her hand back and swatted him hard on the tush. Giles jumped. Buffy hopped protectively to her feet, fists clenched, and then sat back down. Xander grinned from ear to ear. Willow blushed and lowered her eyes. Faith grinned and strode confidently out the door.  
  
Giles cleared his throat. "Y-yes. Well, shall we?" Giles followed Faith, Xander trailing the Watcher.  
  
Buffy and Willow brought up the rear. "How come she gets to do that? We've known him longer and we don't get to d..."  
  
"Will!"  
  
"Well...not that I wa... oh forget it!" She scrambled out the door, Buffy giggling as she followed her out.  
  
  
  
******  
  
  
Buffy knelt in the bushes surrounding the now darkened small house she had visited earlier that day. Giles smiled and nodded at her from his position about 30 feet away. Further along the perimeter, Faith held her position near the back door. Xander and Willow had been paired off and given lookout duty near the road. All of them were armed with tranq pistols, while Giles carried the tranquilizer rifle. A large barn and tall trees completed the perimeter, forming an almost natural enclosure.   
  
Buffy sat her gun at her feet for a minute and rubbed her hand on her jeans. She was anxious, just wanting this over with, wanting the future Slayers safe and home. She had sensed the same feeling in her friends and now it hung in the air over this place as a nearly physical presence. The flash of headlights on the main road signaled the renegade's arrival. As they turned onto the side road for the house, they switched their lights and motors off, coasting in. Buffy caught sight of Xander and Willow inching back along the tree line, taking up position behind one of the large trunks.   
  
The sound of branches snapping brought Buffy's attention back to the road. As she spotted four of the renegades moving into the clearing, Buffy reclaimed her gun. She turned her head to catch sight of three more moving around the perimeter, toward her position. She signaled to Giles, who acknowledged her and then began backing into the bushes to take care of the two he saw coming his way. Buffy turned into the darkened foliage and silently made her way through.   
  
She crept up behind the three men, not resisting a smile as she drew her gun. She took aim at the man bringing up the rear and shot him in the behind. His "oof" and the sound of him hitting the ground caused the other two to turn. Buffy barely had time to register that they were holding much more lethal firearms than her own when she had shot the one on her right in the chest and delivered a spin-kick to the face of the one on the left. Soon the three men were all unconscious, hog-tied, gagged and tucked nicely into the bushes. Buffy reloaded her pistol and moved to back-up Giles' position.   
  
  
  
******  
  
  
Giles stepped out of the shrubs in front of the two coming his way. He fired off a shot directly into the man's thigh. He dropped, revealing a dark haired, smiling woman behind him. "Hello Rupert."  
  
"Marilyn, why?"  
  
She leveled her pistol at his chest. "Drop the rifle." He did. "We could use the Ripper if you'd be interested. Some of the others might have a problem, you having been assigned a Slayer and all. There's a little bitterness about that. Still, I could put in a good word."  
  
Giles' eyes narrowed. "I'd rather die."  
  
She cocked her gun. "Then you shall." Giles heard the sound of a shot and winced in anticipation. To his surprise, he saw Marilyn's eyes widen as she sank to the ground, a tranq dart in her back. His eyes moved up from Marilyn's body to Buffy's smiling face.  
  
"Well that's two down. How many did you take out."  
  
"Three."  
  
"Good." He bent and began to tie Marilyn, probably tighter than necessary. Buffy started to do the same to the man. "That's five down, five heading to the house. That's four unaccounted for. Let's uh, let's head over and help the others." The Watcher and Slayer drug the bodies into the shrubs and made their way through the cover of shadows.  
  
  
  
******  
  
  
Willow leaned nervously against the tree trunk. Xander's eyes shifted left to right, trying to keep an eye out for any movement nearby. "So when does Oz get back from LA?" he whispered.  
  
She arched her eyebrow his way. "He gets back tomorrow. You already know that. He told you himself before he left. I must have mentioned it a hundred times today."  
  
"Pardon me for trying to fill up the quiet with some small talk."  
  
"I think it's supposed to be quiet. Making a lot of unnecessary noise is probably not something we're supposed to be do..." Her sentence was cut short by the hand around her throat. Xander's eyes flashed to her direction. Out of instinct, he brought his pistol level to the smug face of Willow's captor.  
  
"Oh no thank you, I brought my own." The man moved a silver .45 to the redhead's temple.  
  
"Oh God." Xander licked his lips, his breath heavy with his helplessness.  
  
Willow clenched her teeth and tried not to tremble or cry. She curled her hands around the man's wrist to try to alleviate some of the pressure on her throat. "Drop the water pistol Little Boy." He let go of the weapon. "Good." The man leveled the gun to Xander's face.  
  
"Xander," Willow gasped. She stomped her foot down as hard as she could on her captor's toes, at the same time pulling desperately at the hand at her throat. The man pushed her hard to the ground, moving the gun to her. Xander kicked him in the stomach, causing him to drop his gun. This time it was Xander he grasped by the throat. He shoved the boy against the tree, pinning him as Xander clawed at his arm. Willow scrambled on the ground for Xander's discarded weapon. She stood and fired right into his back. The man released him as he lost consciousness. Xander slumped to the ground gasping for breath. Willow crawled up next to him and pulled him into a tight hug.  
  
  
  
******  
  
  
One bulky, tall man and two statuesque women neared Faith's position. She grinned and scrambled up the trunk of the nearest tree. She crept along it's branches until she was directly over their heads. Wordlessly, she dropped from the oak, right atop the threesome. With Slayer-agility, she was first on her feet. Followed by one of the female Watchers, who pulled a knife and smiled. "What is it with you British bitches and knives? Take a nap." Faith drew the tranq pistol from the waistband of her jeans and fired into the woman's chest. As that Watcher dropped, Faith fired into the back of the other woman before she could get up.   
  
The tall man rolled the women off of him, stood looming over the brunette, and grinned. Faith returned the smile and squeezed the trigger. It simply clicked. Faith stared at it a moment. "Damn." The tall man's grin grew wider. Faith dropped the now useless weapon and looked up as he advanced. "Oh well big boy, guess I get to take you down the hard way." He pulled his hand back into a fist. She brought up her arms and arched an eyebrow. "Let's rock and roll." She turned quickly into a spin-kick.  
  
  
  
******  
  
  
The five renegade Watcher's who had headed straight for the darkened little house, reached the front door and kicked it open. As soon as they had all entered, the lights came on and they found themselves face to face with ten members of the Watcher's Council Enforcers, each armed with tranquilizer rifles. Before the renegades had a chance to react, they had each been tagged with a dart and sedated.   
  
  
  
******  
  
  
Buffy and Giles headed for the house as soon as they saw the lights come up. When they reached the threshold, they saw the Enforcers binding the renegades' sleeping bodies. Their leader caught Giles' eye. "Is that all of them?"  
  
Before Giles had a chance to respond, the shrill piercing sound of a little girl's scream broke through the silence of the night. Watcher and Slayer froze and stared at each other.  
  
"The children," Giles said.  
  
Buffy's eyes widened. "The barn!"  
  
They were out the door in a flash, running toward the barn.  
  
  
  
******  
  
  
Faith gave the tall man one last roundhouse to the face. He still wore that same smug grin, minus three more teeth, as he sunk to his knees on the dirt and collapsed. She kicked his sleeping body once more in the ribs for good measure, still pissed off that he had ruined a perfectly good shirt, and ran off into the night towards the sound of the scream.  
  
  
  
******  
  
  
As Buffy and Giles neared the imposing dark structure, Willow and Xander emerged from the bushes to one side of them, also running toward the scream. From the other side, Faith appeared at a full run.  
  
"I don't get it, I thought the kids were outta here?" Faith breathed.  
  
"They should have been," Giles answered.  
  
"Did we not get all the Watchers?" Xander asked.  
  
"We got all the ones we were told about," Buffy stated as they reached the locked double doors of the barn. Together, the Slayers kicked at them and they burst open almost explosively. As the barely lantern lit interior came into their view, the five figures froze at the entrance. Beth, Emmy and Chrissy each carried one of the three infants as they brought up the rear behind the rest of the children. They hurried up the ladder to the loft. Behind them, a group of ten vampires advanced. 


	8. Chapter Eight

Watch the World Die:  
Chapter Eight  
by GylzGirl  
  
------------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
Within seconds, Buffy and the others went into action. They moved to the wall and began arming themselves: a scythe, a machete, makeshift stakes made by breaking off the handles of shovels and hoes. With a little more security on their side, they ran into the fray. As soon as the last human was off of it, Buffy sprinted to the ladder and pulled it until it dislodged from the loft. Two of the vampires, already on their way up, fell off and landed at her feet. Before they could get their bearings, Buffy staked them with a shovel handle. She looked up just in time to see the eight left forming a rapidly closing circle around her. Non-plussed, she put her hands on her hips and smiled charmingly. "Now boys, I can't possibly dance with all of you." A chubby vampire to her right snarled and leapt. She caught him deftly by the throat, inches from her neck, and kicked him in the stomach. "That's what I like to see. Initiative." Two more kicks dropped him to the ground. She brought her stake down quickly into his heart.  
  
The shadows of the others loomed closer. Buffy looked up only to see the four immediately before her get tapped on the shoulders from behind. They all turned and saw her friends smiling at them. Then the fight was on.   
  
Willow backed out of the reach of the vampire before her. She raised the scythe to take his head. He grasped it just below the blade and snapped the pole in his grip. The metal dropped to the ground. Willow gulped, yanked the pole from his hand and hit him twice in the head with it. While he was disoriented, she used the sharp end the vampire himself had created and staked him with it.  
  
Xander gripped the machete handle as if it were a baseball bat and swung at the vamp coming at him. The creature easily jumped out of the blade's way, reaching an arm out and securing Xander's shoulder in a crushing grip. Just as Xander was about to drop the machete, Giles spotted his dilemma and delivered a sharp kick to the ribcage of the vampire holding him. It gave Xander enough time to slip the creature's grip and bring the machete up on a backswing. He decapitated the vampire, seconds before it turned to dust.  
  
After Giles had kicked the vampire attacking Xander, he turned back to face his own supernatural foe. The bloodsucker used the distraction to get within grabbing distance of the Watcher. Before Giles knew what was happening, the thing had gripped him by the upper arms and spun him into its clutches, Giles' back flush against its body. The vampire gripped the top of his head, hard, and forced it into a tilt, bearing Giles' neck to its mouth. He went limp in the vampire's arms until he sensed its teeth almost upon him. The vampire loosened his grip slightly. At that point, Giles dropped his head forward then slammed it backwards into the creature's face.  
  
Giles felt his skin tear as its fang caught the back of his head. He pushed out of its grasp, turning to see it holding its mouth in pain. Giles kicked the side of the vampire's knee and brought it to the ground. It grasped hold of the front of Giles' shirt and tried to pull him down as well. Giles retrieved the makeshift stake from his jacket pocket and drove it home.   
  
Faith smiled, empty-handed, as the bloodsucker in front of her advanced. "Oh damn, and me without a weapon." The vampire smirked until she lowered her arm and a long whittled stake slid down to her palm from her jacket sleeve. "Oh wait a second, look what I forgot about." The creature's smirk soon dissolved. "I hear some Slayers like to name their favorite stake. I call this one Instant Death."  
  
"You're a Slayer?"  
  
"Uh-huh."  
  
The vampire gulped and made tracks out the doors and into the night. Faith was soon hot on his heels. "Come back here and take it like a man! You wuss!"  
  
Buffy heard snarling behind her and turned to find two vampires looming before her. She backed up, feeling her pockets. She was out of weapons. She flashed them a big smile and brought her fists up before her in a defensive stance. They came two steps closer, then sunk to their knees, and fell forward on their faces. Buffy spotted the ends of fence pickets sticking out of their backs before they disintegrated. She looked up to the loft. Emmy and Chrissy smiled down on her, brushing off their hands.  
  
"Look out!" Buffy turned to Giles, only to see him pointing up towards the loft. The last remaining vampire had taken it upon himself to shimmy up one of the barn's supporting pillars to reach the loft, and the children. As he gripped the floor of the loft, a shadow moved over him. He looked up to see Beth Williams frowning down at him.   
  
"I don't think so." She calmly put her boot on his face and shoved. That was all it took to send him crashing to the ground at Buffy's feet.  
  
"Buffy, head's up!" Willow tossed the Slayer the sharpened pole she held. Buffy caught it in mid-air, spun it once and stabbed it straight down through the vampire's heart. She looked back up at the loft and saw Emmy hugging Beth, and Chrissy hugging Giles the bear.  
  
Buffy cast a glance to her Watcher. He smiled proudly in return.  
  
******  
  
Buffy hugged Chrissy one last time and then lifted her into the back of the mini-van. She shut the door and backed up next to her Watcher's side. Chrissy waved both her hand and Giles' paw in farewell as the van pulled away. Behind the mini-van, the larger green van with Sunnydale Carpet Cleaners on the side followed them onto the road. Buffy and Giles walked to the house. The main living room was lit, sounds from various rooms signaling the last two or three remaining Watchers clearing up all traces. Buffy looked up at her Watcher once more. She saw a rivulet of blood trickle down the back of his neck. "You're bleeding."  
  
"Hmm? Oh yes, I thought I might be."  
  
"Sit down." She sat him at one of the empty chairs at the table. Buffy reached into his front jacket pocket and produced the ever present handkerchief that she knew lived there. She folded it to make it thicker and sought out the source of the bleeding in his thick hair. When she found the gash caused by the vampire's fang, she pressed the handkerchief to it. Giles hissed slightly but showed no other outward signs of pain.  
  
The light went out in one of the back rooms and Warrick Giles emerged. Buffy watched as the tension in Giles' shoulders became apparent. One hand went instinctively to the back of his neck, rubbing a little, trying to help.  
  
The elder Giles smiled and leaned against the corner of the table. "It was a good battle Lad. You should be proud."  
  
"Of my Slayer? Always." Buffy smiled.  
  
"And of yourself..." Giles didn't even look at his father. Warrick stood slowly, sadly, and faced the door.  
  
"The children, Father."  
  
Warrick turned back to him. "Are safe." His voice held the tone of confusion.  
  
"No. What were the children doing here? You said you were moving them to town. They were to be nowhere near the battle."  
  
"It all worked out. They weren't hurt."  
  
"I asked you a question god dammit!" Giles' eyes met his Father's.  
  
Warrick's eyes became cold and hard. Buffy could see how a childhood filled with the sight of your own Father's eyes so completely emotionless toward you could create the Ripper. As it was, she wanted to hit him so bad she could taste it.  
  
"It was too much of a risk. If they had realized the children were gone and under guard, they would have known we were on to them and scattered. We couldn't chance it."  
  
"So you left them in the line of fire. I had gotten it into my head that you'd changed. I was wrong. They were simply a tool to you. A tool to bring in the renegade faction. Just as I was a tool at their age. Just what you owed to the Council to continue the Giles Family's legacy with them. That's all having a child was to you. That's all I've ever been to you."  
  
"Grow up Rupert. Stop blaming me for your expectations."  
  
"No. No I don't. I want to thank you actually. I want to thank you for instructing me that my Slayer is my duty, and my life. You were right. In gaining a Slayer, I gained a whole family. One that works like a real family should. We fight, we disagree, we've disappointed one another, but when push comes to shove, we back each other up. You know what makes a person do that? Not obligation, not duty, only love does that. That's what makes Buffy and I the team you and Rebecca could never have been. That's what makes it possible for me to wish you well at the same time as I tell you that you have never been a father to me and I'd rather not see you again."  
  
Warrick simply smirked. "You're willing to cut yourself off from your family?"  
  
Giles shook his head. "No, I'm with my family."  
  
"You'll be losing my protection. The protection the Giles name carries in the Council."  
  
"I'm all the protection he needs," Buffy spoke up. "Giles is my Watcher. Giles will always be my Watcher." Her grip on Giles' shoulder was territorial, possessive. Her eyes met Warrick's challenging him to give her an excuse.  
  
"Until you get him killed too."  
  
Giles looked up to Buffy and covered her hand with his own. "It is the Watcher's place to train, and guide his Slayer. Even to lay down his life to protect her. In the best teams, that is agreed to willingly." His gaze turned again to his father. "In others, it is agreed to out of a sense of duty. Or in your case, not at all. Shall we share with Buffy how Rebecca died?"  
  
Warrick stood, snarling and moved to the door. "One day you will try to come home again and find the doors locked."  
  
"The door to your house was always locked to me, Father." He looked to Buffy. "And for the first time in my life, I am home." Warrick muttered something unintelligible on his way into the night. Soon they heard the sound of a car departing.  
  
Giles stood and stretched, tiredly. Buffy moved the cloth away from his head. "The bleeding's stopped." He smiled at her. "How....um," she took a breath, "how did Rebecca die?"  
  
"She was 15. She was 12 when she was activated, and had come to live with us. She was a gorgeous creature, ethereal, golden blonde hair, smile to break your heart. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen at the time."  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Father made it clear that the only thing she was to have in her life was her calling. She trained all day and hunted all night. I was a year older, and more than interested. We fell in love. We kept it hidden from my Father for almost a year. When he found out, he was furious. He wouldn't speak to me at all, only spoke to her to discuss battle strategy for the night. He'd hear none of her explanations or apologies. One night, he went to observe her on patrol, to chronicle it in his journal. There were five vampires. She finished off three in quick succession. Then my Father called attention to himself and one of the vampires was on him. It distracted Rebecca. The other remaining vampire twisted the stake out of her grip and stabbed it through her chest." Buffy felt a cold chill move through her. "She managed to get hold of another stake in her jacket pocket and finish the bastard before she dropped. I had been trailing her, as I'd done for over a year. I managed to stake the last vampire from behind before he made a meal of my Father. I ran to her side. I thought nothing could ever touch her. I thought if we could just get her to hospital, she'd be okay."  
  
"Oh Giles." Buffy took his hand. Giles smiled sadly.  
  
"I dropped to my knees and pulled her onto my lap. Her chest was just this huge puddle of blood that kept getting bigger. I put my hand over the wound to stop the bleeding, but it was already too late. She put her hand over mine. I begged her not to leave me. I asked her why. She said that she owed my Father and that she would always love me. Then she closed her eyes. I looked up and my Father was standing there, no emotion on his face, nothing. He said, "This is what you have done." Then he walked away. That night, Ripper was born and nothing was ever the same." When Giles looked over, a tear had fallen down Buffy's cheek. He swept it away with his finger. "What's this for?"  
  
"For Rebecca. For you. I should have hit your Father when I had the chance." That made him smile.   
  
"We should go, the others will be waiting in the car."  
  
Buffy laced her arm through Giles' and leaned her head against his arm as they left the house.   
  
  
  
  
The End 


End file.
